Truong Son Cemetery - the resting place of 10,000 martyrs Truong Son Martyrs’ Cemetery in the central province of Quang Tri is where thousands of martyrs are resting in peace.  Truong Son Martyrs’ Cemetery is located at Ben Tat Hill in Vinh Truong commune, Gio Linh district of Quang Tri province. This is a major work to show the gratitude and honor of the Vietnamese state, army, and people to those who died in the name of national liberation and reunification. The cemetery was designed to accommodate 33,000 graves of soldiers; 13,000 remains have been found The grave area of heroic martyrs and unspecified martyrs is on the left to the memorial area at the center of the hill at 32 meters height from the gate. According to Major-general Luong Sy Nhung, former commander of the Truong Son multi-battalion, the forerunner of the 559 Army Corps, after the Paris Peace Agreement was signed in January 1973, the Corps, led by Lieutenant - General Dong Sy Nguyen, built a graveyard and carried out the search and gathering of the remains of the martyrs who had laid down their lives along the Truong Son Mountain Range.  The construction was begun in October 1975 and completed one and a half years later. The cemetery was initially designed to accommodate 33,000 graves of soldiers who died during the resistance war against the US. Since the programming, the cemetery was divided into different zones by provinces. On the left are the graves of heroic martyrs and unspecified martyrs while the graves of soldiers from central provinces like Quang Tri and Quang Binh are laid out on the right. The cemetery is well located in geographical and geomantic terms. It looks like a flying eagle. There is a big lake in front of the cemetery. According to statistics, more than 33,000 personnel of the Truong Son armed forces sacrificed their lives in battle there, and nearly 13,000 remains have been found. The remainder are still missing or lost to bombs, mines, or torrential rains, said General Nhung. Truong Son Martyrs’ cemetery is home to more than 10,000 martyrs, boys and girls in their 20s. They laid down their lives over 6,000 days to construct and maintain the Truong Son Trail. Covering an area of 140,000 square meters, the graves are divided into 10 major zones in which the memorial area is situated at the center of the hill at 32 meters height from the gate. Six embossings are engraved on monoliths featuring typical images of the arms that made up the Truong Son armed forces who were famous for the motto "Build roads to advance, fight the enemy to travel." The memorial monument is tiled with white stones, behind which a big Bodhi tree casts a shadow all year round. Paved walkways in the cemetery are made with bricks or cement and interspersed with flower-beds. Each of the provinces or cities cemeteries has a memorial with subtle architectural imagery representing the region.  The Truong Son martyrs’ cemetery is a symbol of the Vietnamese nation’s will to fight for independence and peace and a place for the relatives, the Party, state, people, and international friends to visit and pay tribute to the martyrs in honor of the tradition: remembering the source of the water we drink. Some photos of the cemetery:    Photo: Kienthuc Compiled by Pha Le, VNN